Westpac Stadium
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| Westpac Stadium | |
|---|---|
| "The Cake Tin" or "The Ring of Fire" | |
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| Location | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Coordinates | |
| Broke ground | 12 March 1998 |
| Opened | 3 January 2000 |
| Owner | Wellington Regional Stadium Trust |
| Operator | Wellington Regional Stadium Trust |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $130 million NZD |
| Architect | Architecture Warren & Mahoney Ltd, Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture |
| Project Manager | Beca Carter Hollings & Ferner Ltd |
| Main contractors | Fletcher Construction Ltd |
| Former names | WestpacTrust Stadium |
| Tenants | Hurricanes (Super 14) Wellington Lions (Air New Zealand Cup) Wellington Firebirds (NZC) Wellington Phoenix (A-League) University of Otago[1] |
| Capacity | 34,500; ~40,000 with temporary seating |
| Field dimensions | Length (North to South) 235 metres, Width (West to East) 185 metres |
Westpac Stadium, previously known as WestpacTrust Stadium, is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. Due to its shape, it is colloquially known as The Cake-Tin in other parts of New Zealand, although the locals refer to it by either its proper name or simply as The Stadium. Fans of football (soccer) team Wellington Phoenix refer to the stadium as The Ring of Fire. The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction[2] and is situated close to major transport facilities (such as Wellington Railway Station) one kilometre north of the CBD. It was built on reclaimed railway land, which was surplus to requirements.
The stadium has a capacity of 34,500 [3]; 40,000 with temporary seating. It was built to replace Athletic Park, which was no longer considered adequate for international events due to location and its state of disrepair. It was also built to provide a larger-capacity venue for One Day International cricket events, due to the Basin Reserve ground losing such matches to larger stadiums in other parts of the country.
The stadium also serves as a large-capacity venue for concerts, including the annual "Rock2Wgtn" music festival.
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[edit] Facilities
The stadium is a multi-purpose facility, though used mainly for rugby union. It is the home of the Wellington Lions Air New Zealand Cup and the Hurricanes Super 14 teams, and also hosts the NZI International Sevens, one of the events in the annual IRB Sevens World Series for national rugby sevens teams. It is also the home venue for A-League football team Wellington Phoenix FC. The stadium has also been used for rugby league matches. Australian rules football exhibition matches were played in 2000 and 2001.
Off-field facilities built into the stadium also included the Stadium Centre of University of Otago, and a campus for the Wellington School of Cricket, run by the Wellington Cricket Association.
[edit] Notable events
In 2000, The Westpac Stadium had the honour of hosting the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. This was the first time the event was hosted outside of Edinburgh, Scotland.
During a cricket match, director Peter Jackson recorded 30,000 fans chanting in Black Speech for the sound of 10,000 chanting Uruk-hai during the Battle of Helm's Deep in the film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
2006 events at the stadium have included a concert by The Rolling Stones which ended the Australasian leg of their A Bigger Bang World Tour, and World Wrestling Entertainment's first ever New Zealand show, part of the WWE Smackdown! Road to Wrestlemania Tour (March 4th).
On October 14, 2007, Australia defeated New Zealand in the Centenary Test rugby league game. The 58-0 defeat set a new record for the largest loss by the "New Zealand national rugby league team".
On December 1, 2007, the stadium hosted an exhibition match between Wellington Phoenix FC and Los Angeles Galaxy. The Galaxy won 4-1 in front of 31,853 fans, the largest crowd for a football match in New Zealand history.[4]
The stadium hosted the inaugural two day "Rock2Wgtn" music festival over Easter 2008, headlined by Kiss and Ozzy Osbourne. Attendance over the 2 days was around 50,000.[5]
With New Zealand as the host of the 2008 FIFA Under-17 Women's World Cup, Westpac Stadium will host six pool matches and two playoff matches. Due to FIFA rules disallowing host stadiums to be named after non-FIFA sponsers, the stadium will officially be known as "Wellington Stadium" during the event.
[edit] Gallery
 Crowds filling in before a Tri Nations match |
 The Stadium entrance |
 The stadium during a One Day Cricket match in January 2005. |
 Rock2Wgtn Easter weekend 2008. |
[edit] See also
- Basin Reserve - Wellington's other international cricket ground
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Cricinfo Westpac Stadium page
- Westpac Stadium at Austadiums
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